What you've got sounds absolutely fine to me. My only question would be whether the Italian "in modo che tutto fosse perfetto" implies that everything therefore WAS perfect? To say "so that everything would be perfect" leaves open the possibility that despite all your planning, something still went wrong.

To say "so that everything would be perfect" leaves open the possibility that despite all your planning, something still went wrong.

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I don't think so. This "would" is a future in the past; imagine them saying, "Let's plan everything months earlier, so that everything will be perfect", and then the use of "would be" simply gives us the reported-speech version.

You'd need "would have been perfect" to suggest that something went wrong.

I don't think so. This "would" is a future in the past; imagine them saying, "Let's plan everything months earlier, so that everything will be perfect", and then the use of "would be" simply gives us the reported-speech version.

You'd need "would have been perfect" to suggest that something went wrong.

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Sorry, I'm not following you. Am I misreading the tense of "abbiamo iniziato a organizzare" or something else in the original? I read the entire line as saying "We started organizing the ceremony months in advance, so that everything would be perfect." This, I think, could be followed by either "The ceremony went off without a hitch" or "However, we hadn't bargained on a torrential downpour."

My only question would be whether the Italian "in modo che tutto fosse perfetto" implies that everything therefore WAS perfect? To say "so that everything would be perfect" leaves open the possibility that despite all your planning, something still went wrong.

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I meant it as planning everything for the ceremony to be perfect in the future. Like calling the florist, booking the restaurant etc. since I'm referring to a wedding.

I don't think so. This "would" is a future in the past; imagine them saying, "Let's plan everything months earlier, so that everything will be perfect", and then the use of "would be" simply gives us the reported-speech version.

Sorry, I'm not following you. Am I misreading the tense of "abbiamo iniziato a organizzare" or something else in the original? I read the entire line as saying "We started organizing the ceremony months in advance, so that everything would be perfect." This, I think, could be followed by either "The ceremony went off without a hitch" or "However, we hadn't bargained on a torrential downpour."

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OK, I probably didn't read your comment properly. You were worried that "fosse" might exclude things going badly. I meant to say that in this case "would be" expresses the same concept as "fosse". Forget my comments about "would be"...

OK, I probably didn't read your comment properly. You were worried that "fosse" might exclude things going badly. I meant to say that in this case "would be" expresses the same concept as "fosse". Forget my comments about "would be"...

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It wouldn't have occurred to me to have questioned "fosse" if I hadn't just come off the "ho pensato bene di..." thread, where a bunch of us learned that if you add "bene" to "pensare," you're stating that you absolutely, unquestionably did what you thought about doing!